When the Agra summit between India and Pakistan failed last month, it was widely feared that its biggest victim would be the Indian prime minister: Atal Bihari Vajpayee might have to go.
His administration is also being criticized for the sluggish economy that directly contributed to the collapse of one of India's biggest government-controlled savings scheme, the Unit Trust of India (UTI), completely shaking investor confidence. Also, Vajpayee's move to widen the ceasefire with a group of separatists, Nagas, in the northeast has been widely resented in the region.
If India's opposition tore apart Vajpayee over those issues, his own 19-party coalition Cabinet did not spare him either. Pushed to the proverbial wall, Vajpayee at 76 was too tired to fight back. He offered to resign at a recent meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main party in the coalition, which he heads.